Drainage catheters are utilized for percutaneous removal of accumulated fluids from body cavities such as the peritoneal cavity or the pleural cavity. Such fluids include ascites or pleural fluid that accumulates as a result of malignancies. The accumulated fluids may cause a variety of symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, non-productive cough, fever, weight loss and the like. While such fluid removal is not curative, per se, it is palliative to the patient and needs to be done repeatedly.
Preferably such palliative drainage can be achieved percutaneously by the placement of a tunneled peritoneal or pleural catheter.
Currently available drainage catheters are straight catheters that, during implantation, often slide up along the pleural wall so that only a few, if any, side drain apertures remain immersed in the pleural fluid. The drainage catheter of the present invention avoids or at least minimizes such shortcomings and provides a catheter that remains properly positioned after implantation and does not apply pressure on the adjacent tissue.